Webb amendment just starting on cspan2 (McCain will counter)

SOMETHING has to go right today.

:(

Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject SENATE VOTES AGAINST RESTORING HABEAS CORPUS
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1844882#1844882
1844882, SENATE VOTES AGAINST RESTORING HABEAS CORPUS
Posted by cali on Wed Sep-19-07 10:18 AM

It's a done deal. And this was NOT about the lack of dem spine. The only "dem" that I'm aware of who voted with the repukes to filibuster, was LIEberman.

Some repubs voted with the dems: Specter, Hagel, Sununu and Luger did.

Some moderate repubs proved what traitorous creeps they are: Collins, Warner and Snowe, to name three.


We need more Dem Senators. It's that simple.

Thanks to Senator Leahy who's been working his butt off on this for a long time. And thanks to Senator Dodd as well. Grudging thanks to Arlen Specter who co-sponsored, and to Luger et al for voting for the Constitution.

A special raspberry to that toad Lieberman, and to Susan Collins, who will hopefully be retired next year by the good people of the great state of Maine. (Go Allen!)

UPDATE: SNOWE CHANGED HER VOTE TO AYE.

Those who voted against restoring habeas corpus are really troubled individuals, imo. I could think of much more to say to that, but I'm not exerting the energy right now, they can't take THAT from me! I don't have much energy today, think I'll keep it for my loved ones.

Imagine having an uncle in the senate who voted against this, sitting across from you on thanksgiving day? O M G.

Reminds me of the stories I heard of how families were destroyed back in the sixties because of the total political divide. I would bet it's happening now too.

What do their family members think of them when they vote like this?

Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject Webb: Bush should think twice before Iraq bill veto
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1844919#1844919
1844919, Webb: Bush should think twice before Iraq bill veto
Posted by babylonsister on Wed Sep-19-07 10:21 AM

Webb: Bush should think twice before Iraq bill veto
By Klaus Marre
September 19, 2007


Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) said Wednesday President Bush should carefully consider whether he wants to veto legislation that would give troops more rest between deployments to war zones.

“If I were the president of the United States and I had an expression of the Congress that basically said you can’t keep people in Iraq longer than you’re allowing them to be at home, I’d think twice before I vetoed that,” said Webb, the measure's sponsor, as he spoke on CNN.

The Webb amendment is the centerpiece this week of the efforts of Democratic leaders to change the course in Iraq. If Webb’s amendment picks up additional support from Republicans, it could clear the threshold of 60 votes that is needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.

more...

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/webb-bush-should-think-twice-before-iraq-bill-veto-2007-09-19.html

He is willing to throw more troops into the meat grinder for his own ambitions. He is despicable.

Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject Webb Slams McCain’s Opposition To His Pro-Troop Amendment: He ‘Needs To Read The Constitution’
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1844823#1844823
1844823, Webb Slams McCain’s Opposition To His Pro-Troop Amendment: He ‘Needs To Read The Constitution’
Posted by babylonsister on Wed Sep-19-07 10:12 AM

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/19/webb-amendment /

Webb Slams McCain’s Opposition To His Pro-Troop Amendment: He ‘Needs To Read The Constitution’

The Senate is set to consider Sen. Jim Webb’s amendment “requiring that active-duty troops and units have at least equal time at home as the length of their previous tour overseas.” Under the current Pentagon policy, troops are deployed for 15 months, but receive just 12 months at home.

Yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), an adamant opponent of Webb’s pro-troop amendment, urged Congress to reject the measure:

The Constitution of the United States gives no authority for the Congress of the United States to set lengths of tour or lengths of duty in the military and I hope we will steadfastly reject this kind of micromanagement, which would create chaos.

This morning on CNN, Webb rebutted McCain’s assertion that the Senate has no role in troop deployments:

Well, first of all, Sen. McCain, who I’ve known for 30 years, needs to read the Constitution. There is a provision in Article I, Section 8, which clearly gives the Congress the authority to make rules with respect to the ground and naval forces. There’s precedent for this.

He also urged the President to “think twice” about vetoing the bill if it passes, since it would be “an expression of the Congress that basically said you can’t keep people in Iraq longer than you’re allowing them to be at home.”

Watch it/read transcript at link~

In July, Webb’s amendment received approval from the majority of the Senate — 56 votes — but was filibustered by the Republican leadership. Sen. John Warner (R-VA), who supported the bill in July, has now said that is appeased by the administration’s token withdrawal and may vote against it.

Contact your senators and urge them to vote for Webb’s pro-troop amendment.

UPDATE: OpenLeft, Firedoglake, Digby, Working Assets, Taylor Marsh, Huffington Post, DailyKos, and TPM have more.

Transcript:

the Webb Amendment. I told all of them to prove their Support the Troops mantra and show us how much support they really have. Now the reason I said "all' of my senators is that I used to live in CT, so I wrote to those senators (using my former address.) We also have a cottage in Maine, so I used my Maine address to write to Snowe and Collins, and since I live in Florida, I wrote to Nelson and Martinez. I know this isn't exactly kosher, but, I wanted to let them know that I am watching how they vote on this.

OWN resolution, which McCain supports--that's how you know that Warner AND his resolution are full of shit.

for the excessive troop rotations.

doing great damage to our Army and Marines--cannot grind down force structure the way we've been doing.

wearing them down and breaking morale.

but there are real human beings affected by these policies--who speaks for them?

capabilities--so we just keep grinding down our men. Are we going to suit up the Boy Scouts on weekends? (LOL--good one Chuck).

about the troops, as is Webb--God bless 'em.

hey hagel do not give these thugs any ideas.

I loved it.

take this step, consequences will be severe. Is it micromanaging the war? Well, we never matched the resources to the mission--what do we do about it?

so monotone, boring and ineffectual.

What has that got to do with the bill?

matter what they say publicly. McCain is a nasty bastard.

"emasculates" the surge. Which I sincerely hope it does.

Maverick my ASS.

are all about. What a fuckwad.

was the heck was that all about.

OMG.

troops come April anyway.... and the Admin. is taking this amount of troops that won't be able to be replaced, as a credit in advance by saying they are "drawing down surge" by their timetable. McCain takes this another perverted step further and says its putting troops in more danger.

OH how twisted this all is.

and time with their families, and sufficient training, is HARMFUL somehow. He must have senile dementia.

he's just INFUCKINGSANE. (jmo) lol

McCain is odious.

how many times HE was wrong about the war--what a fucking hypocrite.

and genocide. McCain wants to keep fighting the war on the backs of the overburdened. Then call for a draft, you sadistic ASSHOLE, if this war is so crucial!!!

I'm betting those kids just want to come home--WITH their limbs, to intact families.

supporting mission. Webb says nothing wrong with questioning mission.

where does Congress draw the line when Prez overreached and damages force structure?

how to conduct operations.

good for determining pay grades, equipment, administrative stuff--not step on CiC toes in waging war. Not sure where in the article it says that, but McCain likes to make shit up.

The article is not specific:To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces.

Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject BREAKING: Warner, McCain To Propose Toothless, Watered-Down Version Of Webb Amendment
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1845594#1845594
1845594, BREAKING: Warner, McCain To Propose Toothless, Watered-Down Version Of Webb Amendment
Posted by babylonsister on Wed Sep-19-07 11:16 AM

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/19/watered-down-webb /

BREAKING: Warner, McCain To Propose Toothless, Watered-Down Version Of Webb Amendment

Speaking on the Senate floor this morning, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), an ardent opponent of a pro-troop measure to relieve the stress on the overstretched armed forces, announced he will propose a toothless, watered-down substitute to the Webb amendment.

McCain said he and Sen. John Warner (R-VA) have teamed up to put together a “sense of the Senate” amendment to express “very clearly that we all want all our troops home and we understand the stress and strain that’s been inflicted on the men and women in the military and the guard and reserves.”

McCain’s rhetoric belies his intentions — to kill the Webb amendment. Webb’s bill would force the Bush administration to provide active duty troops at least the same time at home as the length of their previous tour of duty overseas. After learning of the McCain-Warner proposal, Webb immediately rejected it, stating that the troops don’t need the “sense of the Congress” but rather “the will of the Congress”:

I have just learned from Sen. McCain’s comments that Sen. Warner will be offering a side-by-side amendment that goes to the sense of the Congress rather than the will of the Congress. And I would like to state emphatically at the outset that this is a situation that calls for the will of the Congress.

Watch it at link~

Webb noted at a press conference this morning that Warner is being pressured “very hard” by the Bush administration to back away from his earlier support of the Webb amendment:

QUESTION: Is Senator Warner bailing on you here, or have you reached some accommodation?

WEBB: I’m still hopeful that Senator Warner will support this — will vote for it. <..> As you might imagine, as someone who has been the Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee, he has been pressed very hard by this administration to, sort of, back away from this.

Sen. John Warner introduced a similar “sense of the Senate” resolution to oppose Bush’s escalation in January, but it failed to pose any obstacles to the administration’s failing course in Iraq.

Warner often flinches from head-on confrontation with the Bush administration, and now he is providing an escape outlet for conservatives to claim they support giving the troops rest while doing nothing about it.

to address any urgent force needs--no excuse about it unduly tying Prez's hands.

an Officers' group supports it--unusual for them to insert themselves into politics.

forgetting that whole civilian control of the military thing.

for political gain/re-election.

They WANT us to do it, and then they'll blame us forever.

which essentially says, "We like you, troops. We like you so much, we won't change a thing to help you."

Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject Someone call Lindsey Graham a Waaaaaaambulance. Whining about ads being run on republicans
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1845842#1845842
1845842, Someone call Lindsey Graham a Waaaaaaambulance. Whining about ads being run on republicans
Posted by chimpsrsmarter on Wed Sep-19-07 11:34 AM

on the floor of the senate. "Those of us up for reelection are having ads are being run against republicans who vote no on these bills"

when is the his time up? Arrogant assed bastard!

they don't know anything about fighting war! Especially not a former Sec of the Navy.

so while Lindsey says Webb and Hagel's service is not relevant, Lady Lindsey's "service" gives him oh-so-much credibility. These two jackasses are tag-teaming it.

hey Lindsay close the closet door, what a jerk Graham is.

are talking about their fun in the sun in Iraq, and the so called progress they think they saw. Graham is baiting Dems to stop the funding..

against this.

and if Graham says "I'm a lawyer" one time i think i'm going to puke.

:puke:

Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject Someone call Lindsey Graham a Waaaaaaambulance. Whining about ads being run on republicans
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1845842#1845842
1845842, Someone call Lindsey Graham a Waaaaaaambulance. Whining about ads being run on republicans
Posted by chimpsrsmarter on Wed Sep-19-07 11:34 AM

on the floor of the senate. "Those of us up for reelection are having ads are being run against republicans who vote no on these bills"

a chance to spout pro-surge propaganda and to remind everyone he was in the fight!

he had three meals a day in Baghdad and that the soldiers said they are kicking ass...

about something related to the legal system in Iraq. I guess we're off Webb-Hagel.